I tend to see most of the new animated movies, though sometimes it takes me longer before I get around to some of them.  I remember being sort of interested in Happily N'Ever After when I first saw the previews since I thought the plot looked interesting.  I was only recently able to see the movie.

All the fairytale characters live in a magical place called Fairytale Land where the Wizard keeps the scales of good and evil in balance and makes sure that all the stories end like they should with happy endings.  When the Wizard leaves on vacation, his assistants Munk and Mombo are left in charge even though it is almost time for Cinderella to go to the ball and meet the Prince.  Mombo is bored and wants to mix things up a bit in the stories.  He and Munk argue and are overheard by Frieda, Ella's evil stepmother.  Frieda decides this is her opportunity and she manages to tip the scales in favor of evil, causing things to go wrong in all the fairytales.  Ella figures out what is going on and sets out to find the Prince who goes missing.  Ella is helped by Rick, a guy in love with her who works in the castle.  

Before seeing Happily N'Ever After, I thought the plot had potential to be interesting.  The idea of twisting or changing things in a fairytale isn't exactly new, but it can be entertaining when it is done right.   This movie failed to reach that potential, making the movie barely average.  The plot just didn't seem to be that developed.  So many things were touched on, that none received enough attention to be dealt with properly.  It does seem like there was an attempt to make the plot a bit more complicated by throwing in so many things, but that attempt fails.  The things happening are rather simple and I didn't feel like there were any surprises to what was happening.

Characters from several different fairytales turn up throughout Happily N'Ever After even though the movie is mostly focused on Ella and her situation, making this movie mainly a skewed version of Cinderella.  The other fairytales that turn up are just barely mentioned for the most part, though some of them pop up several times without them having any real importance to what is happening.  That did scatter the focus of the movie more, which I think ultimately hurt the movie.  I think the plot might have been stronger if the movie had just dealt with Ella and the new version of Cinderella instead of tossing in all the other characters.  Most of those other characters didn't add to what happens and just clutter up things.

I think Happily N'Ever After is supposed to be funny, but I didn't think it was.  I'm guessing some of the various twists on classic characters are meant to be funny, like how the seven dwarves act, but those things didn't make me laugh.  The way the Prince keeps checking his little book to figure out what to do in every situation is amusing.  The lack of humor does make the movie boring at times.  This is not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, though it isn't completely horrible either.  I think it is average, though many people aren't going to like it at all.  Children will probably be more entertained than adults.  

Happily N'Ever After was created with computer animation.  The animation is all right, but it isn't anything that special.  The backgrounds look good, though they are more static than what turns up in other computer animated movies, especially those by Pixar.  The animation didn't bother me that much, though something about the look of Frieda looks off to me.  The movements of the characters are more stiff, which also looks off.  People shouldn't go into this movie expecting great animation just because it is done with computers.  Not all computer animation is created equal and the quality of the animation isn't anywhere near as good at Pixar or Dreamworks.

Cinderella, or Ella as she is called, is the main character.  She lives with her stepmother and two stepsisters who treat her like a slave.  All Ella wants is to go to the ball and meet the Prince so she can have her happy ending.  As things start to go wrong, Ella starts realizing that she wants more.  Sarah Michelle Gellar does fine with the voice.  Her stepsisters aren't given names and they are just sort of there in a few scenes.  Frieda has more to do since she decides to take over and mess up all the happy endings.  She mostly works as an evil character and Sigourney Weaver does fine with the voice.

Rick is a young man who works in the castle for the Prince.  Rick isn't happy with his lot in life and he wants to be the one to fix things and end up with Ella.  He also serves as a narrator at times.  Freddie Prinze Jr.'s voice is fine for the character.  I've seen it listed that the Prince's name is Humperdink but I honestly don't remember hearing the name in the movie.  Everyone just kept calling him Prince.  He is always checking his little book to know what to do in a situation and he isn't that bright.  Patrick Warburton does fine with the voice.  A few other people working in the castle turn up without having that much to do.

The Wizard is only in a few very short scenes, so George Carlin's voice work is completely wasted.  Munk and Mambo are around a bit more, trying to fix the mess.  They are sort of cute characters, but ultimately don't add that much to what is going on either.  Wallace Shawn and Andy Dick don't have the opportunity to do much with the voices.  Various other fairytale characters turn up every so often, usually without them doing much of anything.  Ella does end up receiving some help from the seven dwarves.  None of them have names in the credits, but a few names like Cletus and Bubba are shared.  They way they act, along with those names, make me think of them as redneck dwarves.

Main Voice Cast

Andy Dick - Mambo
Sarah Michelle Gellar - Ella
Freddie Prinze Jr. - Rick
Wallace Shawn - Munk
Patrick Warburton - Prince Humperdink
Sigourney Weaver - Frieda

Directed by Paul J. Bolger and Yvette Kaplan

DVD Information

I watched the widescreen DVD version of Happily N'Ever After.  I don't know if there is a full screen version as well or not.  There is an alternate ending, deleted scenes, three featurettes on the making of the movie, commentary with a director and a few games.

Happily N'Ever After is not that great of a movie, but it is mildly entertaining.  Children will probably enjoy the movie more than adults.
                                    
Animated Movie Reviews
101 Dalmatians ~ Aladdin ~ The Ant Bully ~ Antz ~ The Aristocats ~ Barnyard ~ Batman: Mask of the Phantasm ~ Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero ~ Beauty and the Beast ~ Bee Movie ~ Bolt ~ Brother Bear ~ A Bug's Life ~ Cars ~ Chicken Little ~ Coralina ~ Doctor Strange The Emperor's New Groove ~ Finding Nemo ~ Flushed Away ~ Happy Feet ~ Hellboy Animated: Blood & Iron ~ Hellboy Animated - Sword of Storms ~ Home on the Range ~ Hoodwinked ~ Horton Hears a Who ~ Ice Age ~ Ice Age: The Meltdown ~ Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ~ Igor ~ The Incredibles ~ Invincible Iron Man ~ Jetsons: The Movie ~ Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius ~ Kung Fu Panda ~ Lilo & Stitch ~ The Little Mermaid ~ Looney Tunes: Back in Action ~ Madagascar ~ Meet the Robinsons ~ Monster House ~ Monsters, Inc. ~ Monsters vs. Aliens ~ Mulan ~ The Nightmare Before Christmas ~ Open Season ~ Over the Hedge ~ The Polar Express ~ Ratatouille ~ Robots ~ Shark Tale ~ Shrek ~ Shrek 2 ~ Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas ~ Sleeping Beauty ~ Tim Burton's Corpse Bride ~ TMNT ~ Toy Story ~ Toy Story 2 ~ Treasure Planet ~ Ultimate Avengers ~ Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther ~ Up ~ Valiant ~ Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ~ Wallace & Gromit - Three Amazing Adventures ~ WALL-E ~ The Wild ~

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD